in the company of wolves (there is no sympathy)
by curt lemon
Summary: How do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved? Hayley's only answer: You don't. You save yourself. And if they choose to walk into the fire, knowing that it has the power to burn, you let them./ In which Hayley makes a run for it. Post 4x20./ One-shot. Possibly a two-shot. Maybe even a three-shot.


**UNO: **If it isn't obvious, italics are flashbacks_._

**DOS: **Since The Originals isn't actually _here_ yet, I had to make a few assumptions. 1) That Rebekah is still pissed at Klaus for pretty much wrecking her life (as she should be). 2) That Davina is in New Orleans of her own choice. I don't know if, in canon, she's being held against her will, or what. But for the purposes of this, she _chooses_ to be a part of what... what ever it is she's a part of. 3) I don't know what else, I just always feel like it's better to have three points than two. Two points feels unfinished and frankly kind of pointless.

**TRES: **Again with the two points vs three points thing. (More notes at the bottom if you care).

* * *

**_in the company of wolves (there is no sympathy)_**

Hayley sits in the idle car, knowing this is as far as she can take it. The rest of the way will have to be on foot. Soon, she will be trekking through the wilderness with nothing but a backpack that carries a bit of food and water, and an old map that she is only half-confident in her ability to read, given to her courtesy of the young witch Davina.

"_I know it's old, but the area is pretty out of the way. It hasn't been mapped out in decades. Probably why they chose it."_

_Hayley observed the yellowing paper with the fading ink."And you're sure this is where they are?" _

"_No. It's like I said, they don't _want_ to be found. But I have a strong feeling about this place. _Something's_ in there, and it could very well be them."_

_Hayley tried not to dwell on just what the term "something" could encompass. Nodding, she folded the map and stuffed it into her backpack. _Thanks, _was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to say it. Far too many times now Hayley had been deceived under the pretense of "help" to believe in the good nature of the aid she was receiving now. Until Hayley saw it with her eyes, she would not believe it._

"_It's ok," Davina said, seemingly reading Hayley's mind. "You can thank me later," she finished with a smirk and a wink._

_Hayley smiled momentarily, but remembering where she was and who she was with, it quickly faded from her face. "Look," she started, but was interrupted by an anxious accented voice._

"_Hayley, we haven't got all day now. They'll realize you're missing soon enough."_

_Hayley glanced behind her, where Rebekah stood outside the door in the hallway, holding tightly onto a tiny bundle of cloth. _

"_Yeah, just a second," she replied._

_Rebekah rolled her eyes and began to descend down the staircase, shouting out a "hurry up" on her way down._

_Hayley turned back to Davina, "Look, Davina, know you find this place all magical and fascinating, but-"_

"_If you're about to tell me I don't know what I'm getting into," Davina waved her off, "please, don't. I've had enough of that," she added, rolling her eyes in the typical teenage fashion._

"_Well, just make sure of that, because I thought I knew I was getting into, too," Hayley warned, "and look where I am now- running for my life, again. Just-" She licked her lips and took a breath- kindness was not in Hayley's nature. She did not help other people, she used other people in order to help herself. But lately, she'd been given a new perspective on life, "-just don't make the same mistake I did." She finished._

"_Hayley! _Now_!" Rebekah's voice carried all the way up from where she stood outside._

"_Well." Again, Hayley couldn't bring her self to say "thank you," so she simply waved and turned away._

"_Wait!" Davina shouted, running over to her bedside table. She pulled a necklace out of the top drawer- a simple leather rope with a black and white stone hanging from it- and handed it to Hayley. "Apache Tears," Davina explained as Hayley inspected the gem. "I've spelled it, no one will be able to track you this way."_

_Hayley looked up to the girl before her- so young, helping Hayley for no other reason thanthat the witch still had some goodness in her. _She doesn't belong in this place_, Hayley thought, _but she doesn't want to leave. How do you save someone who doesn't want to be saved?

_Hayley's answer: you don't. You get the hell out of dodge. You ave yourself. And if others choose to walk into the fire, aware of it's power to burn, you let them do it._

_So Hayley merely clutched the necklace tight, gave Davina a nod, and walked out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the building, to the car that would take her away._

"_About time," Rebekah muttered getting into the car. "And put that bloody necklace on, the last thing we need is all of this going to waste because you..."_

_Hayley let Rebekah's voice fade into the background, a skill she had acquired over the last few months, and tied the gem around her neck, ignoring Rebekah's hate-rambling about Klaus (a daily occurrence), and not once, during the entire ride did Hayley dare glance at what lay in the backseat._

Rebekah is back in New Orleans now, and Hayley is in the car alone, a good distance from the crowded city that is secretly brimming with the supernatural. She leans froward, resting her chin on the steering wheel that her hands grip so hard her knuckled turn white. Her knee bounces anxiously and she presses her forehead against the faux leather wheel. Here, buried somewhere in the forest ahead of her, is another chance. A _probable_ chance. Not just another mistake.

Her hand travels absently to her stomach, which is once again flat, the child that previously inhabited it back in New Orleans with Rebekah.

Hayley knows it was for the best- best for herself at least. She could try convincing herself that leaving was also the right thing for the baby, but what would be the point? There's no use in edging around the truth at this point. Hayley does not need a baby. Hayley does not need a baby. What Hayley wants is to find the family she never had. A child can not be what Hayley needs.

Call her awful. Call her selfish. Call her a bitch. Wereslut. Monster. Meaningless liquor-fueled one night stand.

She can take it. She can take it all.

Because Hayley knows that she did what was necessary to get to where she needed to be.

It is what it is.

Hayley lifts her head from the steering wheel. _Now or never, _she tells herself. _Only five more seconds. Just five more secondsand then it's time to move on. _She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and begins to count down.

"Five..."

"_It's a girl."_

_Hayley's head turns slowly to face Rebekah._

"_I thought you might want to know," Rebekah shrugs, looking back to the street._

_Hayley's eyes linger on Rebekah for a moment longer. She opens her mouth but no words come out. There's really nothing to be said. So she clamps it shut again and trains her eyes straight ahead._

"Four..."

"_You haven't even look at her this whole time."_

"_Aren't you supposed to be paying attention to the road?" Hayley asks irritatedly._

"_Please," Rebekah scoffs, "I could drive this car cross country without looking at the road once and still get us there safely without a single scratch."_

"_Impressive," Hayley drawls, thoroughly unimpressed._

"_Still, don't you want to see what she looks like?"_

"_No."_

"_Why not?" Rebekah asks._

"_You sound disappointed." Hayley says._

"_Shockingly enough," Rebekah responds, "I am. Refusing to even lay eyes on your new born child? I must say, that's a new low. Even for you, Hayley."_

"Three..."

"_I thought you were getting what you wanted," Hayley snaps._

"_Oh, I am," Rebekah smiles. "Believe me, I'm getting exactly what I want. By helping you run away, I am not only getting the chance to to raise this child as my own, I am also getting the opportunity to defy my royal arse of a brother. It's a win-win, really. Well, for me at least. As for Niklaus, who I'm sure was reveling in the thought of killing you the moment you were no longer pregnant, he'll never get the chance. Since you'll be long gone by then, never to be seen again."_

_Hayley doesn't miss the emphasis with which Rebekah says "never to be seen again." It was an intentional statement, a warning that says "don't come back." Not because Rebekah worries for Hayley's life, but because she doesn't want Hayley getting any ideas about coming back to claim her child._

"Two..."

"_Alright, last chance." Rebekah says, pulling in front of their New Orleans townhouse. "Do you want to see your daughter or not?"_

"_Still a no," Hayley responds._

"_Fine," Rebekah sighs, getting out of the car and moving to the backseat to gather the baby laying quietly back there. Hayley gets out of the car as well, walking over to the drivers side._

"_You know," Rebekah starts._

_Hayley stops just before getting in the car and turns to face Rebekah, thankful that the baby is positioned in a way so that her face is not visible._

"_I may not like you," she says, flicking her blonde hair out of her face with her free hand, "but I hope you find what you're looking for. I really do."_

_Hayley finds herself surprised by the sincerity in Rebekah's tone and drops her gaze. "Yeah," she nods, "yeah, me too."_

"_Well," Rebekah shifts the bundle to her other arm, "any last requests?"_

_Hayley nods no._

"_Well then, it was nice knowing you, and thanks for helping me spite my brother. See you never."_

_Rebekah turns and Hayley watches her go. Just as Rebekah opens the door and steps inside, about to disappear for good, Hayley speaks again._

"_Rebekah."_

_Rebekah turns to face Hayley, a questioning look on her face._

"_Amara," Hayley says._

_Rebekah raised her eyebrows in question, and Hayley notices as the bundle shifts slightly, a small yawn coming out of it._

_She clears her throat, "Could you, maybe, name her Amara?"_

"_Amara?' Rebekah repeats. "What's that?"_

"_I don't know," Hayley explains. "Just this name that's been stuck in my head, for as long as I can remember. Never been able to shake it from my mind. Maybe now I will."_

"_Hm," Rebekah looks down to the bundle in her arms. "Well, I was hoping to give her a name that matched the origins of my family-"_

_Hayley bit her lip and waited with bated breath to hear what Rebekah would say. She didn't know why it was important, she just felt like it was essential for the child to have that name._

"_-but I suppose Amara will do," Rebekah finished._

_Hayley let out the breath she had been holding and couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face, and Rebekah smiled in return._

"_So long, Hayley."_

_As Hayley got into the car and started the engine, she could hear Rebekah talking to the baby._

"_Say good bye to your mum, Amara. Because you won't be seeing her again."_

"One..."

Hayley's eyes snap open. She snatches the backpack in the back seat and throws the keys into the glove compartment. If all went according to plan , she wouldn't be needing them again. Getting out of the car, she faces the vast wilderness before her, glances down at her map, and looks back up to the forest.

With a deep breath and a first step forward, Hayley begins her journey.

_Time to go find my family._

* * *

**UNO (or cuatro?): **There might be a part 2. If I ever get around to writing/ uploading it. (I'm out a computer right now. This got uploaded from my sister's).

**DOS (or, alternatively, cinco): **The name Amara does have significance to Hayley, even if she doesn't know why. If I get to the part 2 you'll see why.

**TRES (or, if you will, seis): **That's about it. Selina out.

**find me on tumblr at curtlemons**


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